(御岳・御嶽山) Mt. Ontake Hike

The second highest volcano of Japan, Mt. Ontake is a beautiful hike that we were lucky enough to hike it in peak autumn colors!

A surprising thing though is that apparently it is considered a holy place. Not part of the Three Holy Mountains (sanreizan 三霊山) which includes Mt. Fuji, Hakusan and Tateyama, Ontake has more shrines and definitely feels like a pilgrimage. This site shares that Ontake is home to the mountain warriors who ascend the mountain. If you are lucky, you will hear them blow their shell-made trumpets (?) before and after they pray at each of the stations. This video's opening is what I saw on my end. 

Budget: JPY12,600 (~USD110)

• JPY10,000. Share in car expenses
• JPY2,600. Ropeway, roundtrip.

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 3,067m / 6,781ft)

• October 9-10, 2021
• Difficulty: 3 out of 5
• Route below is around 7.6kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲1,040m/ ▽1,040m (backtrail via Ropeway)
• The pilgrimage leg is the trail that goes by station. Most either start by ropeway (and start at 7th station), or drive to the 6th station and start from there. 
• Map Link 

When to Go
Even outside of the public transportation, it seems that the mountain shuts down from November to May, so I'd personally avoid that period. 

Buses run on weekends from end of June til early November, daily during peak season which is around July to September. 

Special Notes

• Highest point is marked as Kengamine (剣ヶ峰).
• Weather forecast: English / Japanese. English more detailed, Japanese more accurate. 
• Trailheads. Quite a lot of trailheads, but only two with a realistic 
• Imori Kogen (飯森高原). Trailhead with the ropeway. If via car, just key in the ropeway's phone number in your car navigatin (0264-46-2525). Otherwise, a public transport access I found is below:
• Bus, Tokyo to Nakatsugawa Station. It can also be taken via train, mainly bullet train, and transfer at Nagoya Station or Nagano Station. 
• Bus schedule here, Bus reservations here, the English doesn't have the required stops, so stick with the Japanese. Around 5 hours one way, price ranges from around JPY3-5,000. In my search as of Nov 2020 writing, Friday prices were JPY4,920 one way. 
• In reserving, choose
• Departure(出発地): 関東→東京→バスタ新宿・渋谷
• Arrival (到着地)：中部→岐阜→中津川
• Train, Nakatsugawa Station to Kisofukushima Station (木曽福島駅). JPY990, 59 minutes one way. 
• Bus, Kiso-Fukushima Station (木曽福島駅) to the Ropeway. JPY1,500, about an hour and a half one way. 
• Bus schedule here, look for "観光路線　御岳ロープウェイ線" which is at the bottom of the page. 
• There are three buses during the day, at least for the autumn schedule.
• Kisofukushima Station to Ropeway : 8:40am / 10:40am / 01:50pm. 
• Ropeway to Kisofukushima Station : 11:45am / 01:15pm / 04:20pm. 
• Ropeway, Bus stop to 飯森高原. Ropeway only runs from mid July to late October, JPY1,400 one way, JPY2,600 round trip. Credit card accepted. The ticket is valid for three days after purchase. Water at the restroom is potable. 
• It's not really a ropeway, more of a... gondola? 
• Tanohara (田の原). Same as the trailhead above, the bus comes from Kisofukushima Station.  As of Sept 2021 check, this trail is closed. 
• Bus, Kisofukushima Station (木曽福島駅) to 田の原. JPY1,500, about an hour and a half one way. 
• Bus schedule here, look for "王滝村". 
• There are three buses during the day. Bus runs from mid August to mid October
• Kisofukushima Station to 田の原 : 8:40am / 10:40am / 02:00pm. 
• 田の原 to Kisofukushima Station : 10:25am / 12:45pm / 03:45pm. 
• 開田口登山口（明神温泉やまゆり荘）. No public transportation, but with parking. 
• 日和田口登山口. No public transportation, but with parking. 
• 濁河温泉. There should be a bus, but none that I can find. No public transportation as far as I can see. 
• 胡桃島口. No public transportation, but with parking. 

• Mountain huts. There are quite a lot of options in the map, so I'm only referring to the ones near the summit. 
• Paid. 
• Ninoike Hut (二ノ池本館). Probably the hut closest to the summit. JPY9,800 with meals, JPY6,800 without, open latter June to early October. Reservations at 090 4668 7000.
• Otaki chojo Hut (王滝頂上山荘). Couldn't really find an online source, but try this number 090-7429-4866. No water source. But I bet you can buy some. 
• Free:
• Sainokawara Hut 賽の河原避難小屋, aka 白竜避難小屋. The closest free hut that's decent enough. 
• It has a toilet officially, but the toilet is the most rundown toilet I've seen in Japan. 

• Sannoike Hut 三ノ池避難小屋. A small free mountain hut, and can accommodate 2 people.  
• Toilet wise, it's a bit better than the Sainokawara one. Not good, but at least better. 

• Camping. None that I could find. 
• Nearby onsen : 鹿ノ瀬温泉. Not the best place, but will do after an overnight trip. The water is lukewarm, not hot, and the women's onsen can only fit one person (or a tight fit for two). JPY500 per person.  
• The entire onsen is manned by one woman, so she's not always at the reception. Call at 0264-46-2034 so she can let you in.

Itinerary **via private car**
Our trail starts at the ropeway, turns right at 8th station to Sannoike up the ridge to the emergency hut. The next day, we ascended to the summit, and went down the main trail back at the 8th station, before finally backtrailing to the ropeway. 

Saturday

• 04:30am. Left Tokyo and started driving. 
  
• 10:00am. Arrived at the parking lot at the ropeway. Started getting ready. Went into the ropeway, purchased our tickets, filled up the hiking form and went to the ropeway boarding place. 
• 10:25am. Boarded the gondola. 
• 10:35am ish. Arrived at the top of the gondola. Took some pictures, and started our hike. Upon exiting, turn left, and follow the main path. It was a nice chipped-wood covered path going from the ropeway to the actual trail, and soon enough we were at the trail. Once the stairs start... then it's all stairs until 8th station. 
• 12:00pm. Arrived at the 8th station. There were plenty of benches as well as a paid hut/store. We rested and had our lunch. 
• 12:30pm. Started our hike to Sannoike (turned right at the fork). All the maps say that this was closed, but it was open on our way there, with plenty of people on the trail. There was a long flat section, but soon enough the ascent started and it didn't really end until we reached the ridge where we would stay for the night. 
• 02:28pm. Arrived at Sannoike Hut. I took some pics of the hut, and continued on. 
• 03:28pm. Finally arrived at the emergency hut! Whew. Had dinner, and slept. 

Sunday

• 03:30am. Woke up and started tidying up. Had breakfast too. 
• 04:30am. Started the hike again. It was a bit of a descent, and then a nice gradual ascent in a well marked route (look for the white circles on the rocks). It was a bit windy so a windbreaker is highly recommended. Once we got into the Ninoike Hut, there was some flat spots, but once we got into the ridge and final push to the summit, it was stairs halfway up, then a rocky trail. 
• 05:27am. Arrived at the summit! Took plenty of pictures, and had my second breakfast. 
• 06:32am. Started our descent. It was a pretty steep descent over a rocky trail. 
• 08:00am. Arrived at 8th station and took a long break.  
• 08:30am. Started hiking down again. 
• 09:30am. Arrived at the ropeway, took the ride down, and was soon on our way home!

Arrived at the ropeway's parking lot. 

The entrance. 

The ticket. Or receipt. That serves as a ticket. 

On the right is the box for the hiking plan, and the door to the boarding place. 

Beautiful view outside! To the left is the actual boarding spot. 

The left side. The boarding is in that building. 

Ropeway up!

There is a rooftop of mirrors. 

The trailhead is that main trail in the middle. 

Nice chipped wood covered trail. 

Stairs up. 

But beautiful autumn too. 

Some bridges on the trail . 

Plenty of signs like this. It states the distance left to the summit (頂上へ○○米, where ○○ is the remaining meters to the summit)

The crowded eighth station.

One of the pilgrims blowing the seashell trumpet.

Taking the trail to Sannoike.

Less vegetation. 

Beautiful autumn foliage. 

A resting stop halfway. 

Some chain sections. A bit narrow, some of which has a bit of a drop. 

The sole river crossing. Not a bit sketchy at all though.

Looking up that river. 

Looking down. 

The gorgeous autumn colors. 

Some wooden bridge to make trail easier. 

Sannoike hut!

Inside the hut. 

The restroom. 

Looking down at Sannoike. 

Almost at the ridge!

The free mountain hut!

Inside is enough room for...maybe ten people?

I took the right side, and the guys took the left side. 

The toilet. The floor to the restroom is broken, as well as the door. 

Starting the hike early in the morning. 

A short portion of the trail was paved. 

Almost sunrise! We could see the light from someone climbing up. 

The shelter right below the summit. 

There is a couple of these shelters. The arch behind it is the summit. 

Almost there!

Summit!

Waiting for the sunrise. 

Then it got cloudy. Ugh. 

Seriously. Ugh. 

The sun is rising and I cannot see it. 

Plenty of clouds all over. 

And then the sunrise is over. Sigh. 

Descending. 

Going down above the clouds. 

One of the shrines in the route. 

I was taking photos nonstop. 

A hut in the middle of the trail. Probably one with the best view. 

One of the sections had plenty of these stones. Are these like the precepts of Buddhism?

Beautiful place of worship. 

Once we were done, we went to the onsen. This is the onsen for women.